Twice Lost, Thrice found
by AbhorsenSabriel87
Summary: Hello! The Yu-Gi-Oh! cast gets a new friend in this fic when Honda wins 5 free tickets to the Big Apple! But what else awaits our heros in the City of Dreams? OCxRyou (possibly)
1. Journal Entries and a Spirit's Doubts

This is to everyone who helped and encouraged me all these years. Thanks a bunch! Warning: PG13 for: fight scenes, swearing, seriously depressing scenes/entries, slight nudity, and minor gore. Please enjoy and don't flame! P.S. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!, so there!

Key:  
/blah/ : Yami - hikari connection  
_/blah/_ : Hikari - yami connection  
_'blah'_ : Thoughts  
"Blah" : Speaking  
_Blah_ : Journal entry  
--blah-- : Author's note actions  
--- : New paragraph

Story 1: A New Face from America

_Dear Journal,_

_---I've been thinking since the last time something life threatening happened: the end of Kaiba's tournament. I'd been in and out of the Shadow Realm more times than I can count and I'm now fully sure that I am the destined one to keep this world safe with Yami, but I wonder why me? I'm just a simple kid from Domino City who's never even left Japan, let alone speak another language. I'm barely fluent in English, but that's because I had Bakura's help. I'm not a courageous person and I couldn't win a street fight if my life depended on it. I'm not really that smart either, not like Bakura or Kaiba. Sometimes I wonder why Yami even puts up with such a weak hikari as me. But then I look at him and see it in his eyes that he cares about me and that he has absolutely no doubt that I'm better than I think I am. But, that's his POV. I nearly lost a lot of friends last month because of who I am. I just hope nothing more like that happens.  
__---On a happier note, I guess, my birthday is next week. Jonouchi and Honda say they have something planned, but they won't tell me! It's driving me nuts! But, at least I know that they can keep a secret. They haven't even told Anzu, and if they're planning a party, she's the best one to call. Ah, well. In just ten more days, on June 4th, I'm gonna be 16 and in the tenth grade. I'm gonna be a sophomore next year! But the old thoughts are still hanging over my head and I can't get rid of them. I can't even tell Yami about it because he's got his own problems and he can't be troubled with my insecurity. But, since Grandpa told me it would help, I'll keep writing in this journal. Maybe I can find some answers inside my own head._

_-------------------------Yuugi Mutou_

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Journal,_

_---I am very reluctantly writing in this because I dislike the thought of anyone being able to read this, but I'm doing it because Yuugi told me it might help me get a few things off my mind. Well, "a few things" is what I have.  
__---After the past tournament, I've been worrying more and more about Yuugi and our friends' safety. I don't even know if I can even protect him anymore. He's proven himself more than able to take care of himself, but I can't seem to be able to leave him behind to do my own research on my past. Isis told me that more of my memories would return the longer I stay with Yuugi, but it's been nearly a month and I don't know any more about my past than Yuugi or Jonouchi does. But I can at least stay happy because my aibou is happy. I wish him a happy birthday next week and hope that he has one. I plan to give him something special, but I don't know if I can. I'll get back next week. Maybe I can find the answers by searching my mind again, even though I've searched a hundred times or so._

_-------------------------------------Yami_

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---Yami closed the book on his recent entry. The black, leather-bound papyrus was a gift from Yuugi, and Yami, even though a bit suspicious and hurt, cherished it. It wasn't just a diary to him. The scent, the essence his light was imprinted in the binding, the cover, the pages. The book made him feel as if his aibou was in his arms that minute, not at school, working on Ra knows what.  
---Yuugi told him that he didn't need to come with him to school anymore, that he should spend some time finding out more about himself or having fun. 'It's as if he doesn't even need my anymore,' Yami thought, sadness creeping to the center of his heart and settling there like an everlasting block of ice. Was Yuugi finally going to say what he always feared: that he wanted Yami to stop intruding in on his life? Yami shook his head, but the lingering doubt stayed hidden in his heart. What if Yuugi did tell him to leave? He didn't know. There wasn't anyone else, alive or dead, he could talk to about this... Wait! Yuugi's grandfather! He could help!  
---Yami jumped lightly off Yuugi's bed and took on a temporarily visible form. It made him tired and look like a ghost, which technically he was, but at least it would be better than Yuugi's grandfather thinking that he was going insane. He ran out the door and was halfway down the stairs before he stopped. Grandpa would just say what Yami himself was thinking. Why was he worried anyway? Did he not trust Yuugi? Yami frowned as he released the temporary body and slipped back into spirit form. No, he trusted Yuugi with his choices, and his soul, more times than one. This was no different matter and Yami was just acting childish.He felt a small tug on his connection with his hikari and answered quickly. /What is it Yuugi? /  
--- /_Are you okay, Yami?/_ came the response. _/I felt for a minute like I was going to cry, then like I was trying to decide about something. Are you feeling okay?/_ Yami narrowed his eyes, annoyed with himself. He forgot that if he had a strong emotion, Yuugi could feel it in their connection.  
--- _/Yami?/_  
---/I'm here, aibou. Nothing's wrong. I was just-/ he cut himself off, thinking to himself '_You were just doubting Yuugi's loyalty and trustworthiness. That's what you were doing' _and shook his head again, reopening the channel. /I was just thinking about something, that's all./ He sensed concern from his light and sighed. /I'm _fine_, Yuugi-kun. There's no need for you to worry about me. /  
--- _/Alright Yami-kun. I was just checking, is all./_ The thought seemed broken a moment, but returned again almost instantly. _/I'll see you at two, Yami-kun./_ His light then broke the connection and left Yami with a feeling of reassurance. His hikari checked up on him to see if he was all right, so he still cared at least. Yami smiled and walked back up the stairs, into Yuugi's room, picked up his journal, and disappeared into his soul room, smiling with contentment. Nothing will hurt his hikari while _he _was around, especially not him.

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Yo people that's it. Nothing really new yet, but in the next chappie, we _might_ just get a scene change! So, hurry up and give me some reviews or else... Damn! I forgot I can't threaten you guys with not writing any more or else I can't write! Fine... next chappie will be up soon... _--grumbles and walks away, sulking--_


	2. A New Adventure

AbhorsenSabriel87: WOOT! Hello peoples! I'm baaaack!   
Kaiba: Aw no. Not this again.   
Sabriel: --hurt look-- What's that supposed to mean Seto-kun?   
Marik: --evil glare at Kaiba-- Yeah, Kaiba. What's that supposed to mean?   
Kaiba: That I hate your fics and I wish to never be a part of them ever again.   
Sabriel: Oh is that all?   
Kaiba & Marik: --anime fall--   
Sabriel: Whatever, no worries. As long as you say the disclaimer every chappie, I'm happy.   
Marik: Am I in this one, Sab-chan?   
Sabriel: A bit. Your part Set-chan.   
Kaiba: Grr. AbhorsenSabriel87 does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any related incendia.   
Sabriel: Coolio's. On wit' de fic.

---------------------------------

    "Hey Yuugi! You in there?" Yuugi came out of his small trance and looked into the amber eyes of his best friend. The blonde was staring him straight in the face with a look of concern written all over his own.   
    "I'm all right, Jou," Yuugi replied. "I was just checking up on Yami-kun. He seemed to be upset about something." Jounouchi nodded knowingly and smiled. "You're too damn compassionate, you know that, don't you?" Yuugi smiled at his friend's playful remark and bit into his burger. No onions, extra pickles and cheddar cheese. That was exactly how Yami-kun made them and exactly how both of them liked them. 'Although,' Yuugi thought, 'Yami does like them a little rarer than I do, but he makes them perfect. Where he learned how to is anyone's guess. Even Jou likes them.' He glanced up as he realized that his friend was talking to him. "Sorry Jounouchi, I was spacing. What'd you say?"   
    "I said," Jounouchi replied, "'are you going straight home after school, or do you wanna hang by my place?'" Yuugi smiled. "I'd love to, Jounouchi," he said, "but Yami-kun and I have something planned." That was half a lie: Yuugi planned to take Yami to the ice rink to teach him how to ice skate, but it was a surprise, so Yami didn't know about it.   
    Jounouchi nodded and diverted his attention as Anzu walked by, who was giving him an evil, don't-you-even-think-about-it look. Jounouchi watched as she sat in her seat between Miho Nosaka and Mai Kujaku and started chatting gleefully. He turned back to Yuugi, gave him a warm smile, then dug into his own sandwich. 'This will be an interesting day,' Yuugi thought to himself as he finished off his burger and drank down his Coca Cola.

---------------

    /Where are you taking me, hikari? / Yami asked Yuugi mentally.   
    /_You'll see_./ Yuugi replied, trying to keep his grin on his face and off his mind. /_Just keep walking, we'll be there soon_./ Yuugi took a tighter hold on his yami's hand and led him down the near empty street easily. He turned a corner and turned to face his yami as he walked backwards inside the building. _/Okay, go to a fully physical form./   
    _This was tricky, especially because he was blindfolded and couldn't see if he was doing it right, but Yami knew he was because he felt Yuugi's joy mounting as he concentrated. /_You're solid_./ Yuugi reassured him. /_Hold on a minute and sit here_./ Yami sat and heard his light's feet retreating, then returning shortly after.   
    "Okay," Yuugi said, smiling at his blindfolded yami, "take off the blindfold, Yami-kun." Yami did so and saw a large, oval-shaped floor with a few people whizzing by on it. They stood on what looked like shoes with blades on the bottom, almost like the things Yuugi called "roller-blades". He looked quizzically at his aibou, who was smiling softly as if waiting for his response.   
    "What is this place, Yuugi-kun?" he asked. Yuugi smile grew a little.   
    "It's called an ice rink, Yami-kun," he replied. "People come here to skate."   
    "Skate on what? How can they skate with blades on their feet and ice underneath them? Won't they slip?"   
    "Sometimes, but if you practice, you can skate without falling. Here," he added, holding up a pair of the strange "skates". "I borrowed a pair for you and a pair for me so that I can teach you how." Yami looked at him startled. "You know how to do this, Yuugi-kun?" Yuugi nodded. "I'd come here after school every once in a while before I met you." He smiled again. "So, Pharaoh," he said teasingly, "I challenge you to an ice skating lesson. Do you accept or admit defeat?" Yami laughed lightly at his aibou's joke. Whenever someone had challenged Yuugi-kun or himself to a duel, they'd say something along those lines. And they would usually say something like;   
    "You're on, Yuugi Mutou!" Yami replied. Yuugi's smile broadened and he handed the skates to Yami and tied up his own. Yami quickly tied the laces and looked at the bladed shoes. They fit easy enough with a little room in the toe. He stood up on them and almost fell back down, but Yuugi helped him stay steady. "Thanks Yuugi-san," he said.   
    "No problem, Yami-san," his light replied. They walked over to the door separating the rink from the lobby, Yami feeling like a total klutz all the way over. Yuugi opened the door and Yami felt a rush of air pass by him, chilling him briefly before Yuugi could pull him inside.   
    The rink was, in fact, ice and Yami felt nervous about making a fool of himself in front of people he didn't know well. Yuugi led him to the edge, which he grabbed on to when Yuugi let go of him. He stood uneasy for a moment, but quickly regained his balance. Yuugi stepped out onto the ice and easily skated out to the middle of the rink and back. He held out his hand to help his dark out, which Yami gladly took hold of. Yuugi smiled slightly and pulled Yami out onto the ice. Minor panic crossed the pharaoh's handsome yet childish features as the skates slid of the ice and his knees trembled involuntarily. He frowned as he mentally scolded himself for being so childish and stood straight up on an almost perfect balance, leaning on Yuugi only slightly for a small amount of balance.   
    "Hold on to my hand, Yami," Yuugi said, happy that his dark was learning so quickly. "I'll help you get used to it." Yuugi gripped Yami's hand a little tighter as he started to skate along the wall. Yami panicked slightly again and tried to step back, but only managed to step the wrong way and fall on his hip, jarring him and slamming into the wall hard. His vision split and faded for a moment and Yuugi's worried face came into clear view.   
    "Are you all right, Yami-kun?" he asked. Yami had taken a pretty sharp fall and hit his head pretty hard against the side, but the darker looked his hikari straight in the eye and smiled. "I'm okay Yuugi-kun," he said confidently. "Just a minor slip, that's all." He stood up shakily and smiled at his aibou. "I didn't realize this would be so difficult," he muttered to himself. Yuugi smiled and shook his head. "I went too fast for you," he muttered. "Gomen nasai, Yami-kun." Yami could feel the sorrow and guilt from Yuugi as if it were an icy chill. He used the wall to help him inch forward and grab Yuugi's shoulder. Yuugi's clear amethyst eyes stared up into Yami's shifting ruby-violet ones as Yami smiled at him.   
    "You did nothing wrong, Yuugi-kun," Yami said lightly. "I'm uninjured and perfectly capable of continuing the lesson, if you wish to do so." Yuugi's face lit up as he smiled at his darkness and took his hands, sliding backward slow and easy.   
    Within the two hours that the two were there, Yami mastered the basics and moving backwards. By the time Yuugi was teaching slightly more complicated moves, the rink was empty and the sun was sinking further in the west. That is when company arrived.   
    Jounouchi had decided to take his sister Shizuka out for the day, since this was one of the only days Jou was allowed to see her. They'd gone out to see a crappy American movie that had a way stupid plot, but it made her laugh, so Jou didn't complain. Then they ate lunch at a small Italian place downtown and decided to go ice skating because she hadn't been since her operation. The two were about to enter the rink when a brunette boy about Jou's age ran up to them.   
    "Jounouchi! Shizuka!" he called out to the pair. Jou turned around and his younger sister smiled at the teen approaching them. "Hey Hiroto," she said happily. "What's the news?"   
    "Yeah," Jou said, playfully glaring at his friend. "What's so important Honda?" Honda's smile grew even bigger as he held up a small envelope. "This," he stated.   
    "What's so important 'bout an envelope?"   
    "Well, look for yourself!" Honda handed the envelope to Jou just as Yuugi came out from the rink alone. "Hey guys," he said. "What's up?" Jou's jaw dropped as he read the letter in his hands and gave Honda a comically shocked look. "You mean..." he started as Honda nodded. "That's right," the brunette continued, grinning broadly. "We're going to New York City!"   
    "What?" Yuugi and Shizuka's voices sounded in unison, both shocked. Honda nodded. "Yup. I won the tickets through the mail. You three, me, and Anzu are going! We're gonna spend two weeks in the Big Apple!" Three cheers sounded from his friends as they chatted to each other about the trip that they were about to take. Meanwhile, Yami sat just outside of Yuugi's consciousness, watching the group with interest, slight sadness, and a chilling sense of foreboding. Something wasn't right about this, and he was determined to find out what.

---------------------------------------------

    Later that night, while Yuugi was packing for the trip, Yami made himself more noticeable to the teenager. "Yuugi," he started, "are you sure about going on this trip?" The younger stared at his darker side with confusion. "Why?" he asked. "What's the matter? Are you still worried about what happened last time we went to America, Yami-kun?" The darker was more than noticeably uncomfortable, and decided to relieve some of that tension by pacing the length of the room. "It's not that, aibou," he muttered. "Something just doesn't feel right about this." Yuugi sighed and continued packing. "Don't do this Yami," he whispered. "Please don't. I really want to enjoy myself for once."   
    Yami was, to say the least, startled by the comment. "Yuugi," he started, "I didn't mean -"   
    "Just don't, Yami-kun. I mean it. I want to be able to have some fun without being in some sort of danger all the time." Yuugi's eyes turned to him in a soft and pleading manner that made the former Pharaoh regret that he'd ever expressed his doubts. "You making accusations and placing a feeling of doom on everything isn't helping at all."   
    "I don't mean to sound ominous, Yuugi-chan," Yami started, "but I am worried for your safety."   
    "Well, you're going to be there, so don't worry about it." On that note of finality, Yuugi closed his suitcase, placed it carefully under his bed, and walked out of the room to begin changing for bed, leaving the clothes he planned to wear the next day carefully balanced on his desk. Yami sighed, both annoyed with himself and with that ominous feeling that just wouldn't go away. _'Better make myself scarce before Yuugi comes back,'_ he thought, and disappeared back into the dark, cold, and unfathomable depths of the Millennium Puzzle.

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Sabriel: Hallelujah! I'm done with chappie number two!   
Marik: Hey! I thought you said I was in this one!   
Sabriel: In this _story_. I never said anything about this _chapter_.   
Kaiba: --laughing at Marik--   
Sabriel: --knocks Kaiba out with giant rubber mallet--   
Marik: Thanks.   
Sabriel: Any time. Review, oh glorious readers!   
Marik: Someone did already.   
Sabriel: Oh, well let's thank them already!

Michelle – Yes! Poor Yami indeed! I'm the master of torture! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! .... Okay, I'm done now.

Sabriel: Now will the readers review? PLEASE?!


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